Chris Sutton has laid into Leigh Griffiths and accused the Celtic striker of 'killing' boss Neil Lennon over his lack of fitness.

The Hoops attacker has only played a bit-part in the season so far including coming off the bench to score against St Johnstone and playing off the bench against Rangers last weekend. With top star Odsonne Edouard out, Sutton reckons Griff should be the man to take his place.

That's why Sutton feels Lennon has been let down by Griffiths as his lack of discipline during Covid-enforced the league shutdown saw him return to training overweight and out of shape, an issue he has not yet addressed fully. "One player who I have to say doesn’t sit right by me, and I know he came back and it’s good to see him back, is Leigh Griffiths," Sutton said. "Leigh Griffiths has killed Neil Lennon in many respects. That period when the season shut down for Covid where Leigh Griffiths let himself go and was out of shape, and then he was left out of the mini pre-season.

"A fit Leigh Griffiths would give Celtic a much better option when Odsonne Edouard is out. The fact he can only play a few minutes of games isn’t good enough. He’s a player who needs to have a good long hard look at himself and think had he actually conditioned himself better, had he actually looked after himself better, Celtic could be in a far better place.

"You have to say there are issues in that dressing room. The fact Neil Lennon is pointing fingers at leaks, it’s a big problem for him. He needs to start getting a grip of the dressing room and there be harmony about the place.

"It looks, at this point in time, like everyone is pointing fingers. There’s a blame culture going on. It’s everyone else’s fault."

Sutton hopes his former employers return to form this week in the Europa League against AC Milan. He hopes Lennon can bring a performance out of them that has been missing this campaign so far.

If the Northern Irishman cannot, Sutton fears somewhat for his longevity as Celtic boss. "This season is very much retrievable for Celtic," he added, speaking to the Daily Record. "The facts of the matter is, though, they haven’t performed well and in the big games they’ve come up well short.

"Ferencvaros is a massive problem for Neil Lennon, off the back of going out to Cluj in the Champions League qualifiers last year. That’s added pressure.

"He got himself out of trouble in many respect with the good performances in the Europa League, that’s all forgotten after the start to this season. Out of the Champions League, losing to Rangers and losing badly.

"He needs a performance, and he needs a big performance, and maybe he’ll get it against AC Milan on Thursday.

"The truth of the matter is we’re all sitting there and thinking AC Milan, in the form they are in, will come and turn Celtic over easily. But Neil Lennon somehow needs to get a tune out of his players, otherwise Peter Lawwell might be thinking ‘we need a different voice, I can’t let this carry on’."